Random News: December 6, 2023

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s December 6, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. I’m up and dressed and have coffee, so it’s time to expire the realms of things that have happened.

• Starting with something good.
• Yesterday, the Senate in a single stroke approved about 425 military promotions after Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-LA) ended a monthslong blockade of nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon abortion policy.
• Tuberville has been directly responsibly for months of hardship on America’s service members and their families, and on military readiness. What a prick. And all of that was for nothing.
• President Joe Biden called the Senate’s action long overdue and said the military confirmations should never have been held up. He’s right.
• Moving on to less good news.
• Senate Republican leaders are urging their GOP colleagues to block legislation to provide more than $61 billion in military and foreign aid for Ukraine because the package does not include immigration and asylum reforms. 
• Any hopes of getting a bill passed this week were dashed when tempers boiled over at a classified briefing on the war in Ukraine and senators got into a shouting match over border security. 
• Fucking children.
• I guess we should do some Dumpy news.
• The Colorado Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this afternoon in a closely watched case about whether the US Constitution’s ban on insurrectionists from holding office applies to El Dumpo.
• Legal experts from both sides expect that one of these 14th Amendment cases will ultimately reach the US Supreme Court, which could settle the issue before the Republican primaries begin with the Iowa caucuses in January.
• After a weeklong bench trial last month, Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace ruled that Trump “engaged in an insurrection” on January 6, 2021, and “acted with the specific intent to incite political violence.”
• But she concluded that the insurrectionist ban doesn’t apply to the presidency, based on the text of the post-Civil War constitutional amendment. I disagree; if it doesn’t apply to the President, who else would it apply to?
• Article 3 of the 14th Amendment says officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are disqualified from office if they “engaged in insurrection.” It explicitly prohibits them from serving as senators, representatives and other offices – but it doesn’t mention the presidency.
• I guess we’ll see.
• Let’s talk about Kate Cox, 31, of Texas.  She is 20 weeks pregnant and has been told by doctors that her baby is likely to be stillborn or live for a week at most.
• But Texas is one of 13 states that ban abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy. Although Texas is supposed to allow exceptions, doctors and women have argued in court this year that the state’s law is so restrictive and vaguely worded that physicians are fearful of providing abortions lest they face potential criminal charges. Cox’s doctors told her their hands are tied under Texas’ abortion ban.
• This was never an issue when Roe v Wade was the law of the land, before right wing  Republicans got it overturned by a very conservative Supreme Court in June 2022.
• Cox is now suing the state to get the abortion she needs, in the first lawsuit of its kind in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The mother of two had cesarean sections with her previous pregnancies. Doctors told her that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her prior cesareans, and that another C-section at full term would would endanger her ability to carry another child.
• And Texas still would rather this woman and her baby die than provide a legal and safe abortion. Republicans want a nationwide abortion ban like the one the have in Texas. If you vote for a Republican, you are supporting the government removing the reproductive rights of women across the country.
• Moving on.
• You know Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)? The little guy in the bow tie who briefly presided over the House during the transition after Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted? He announced yesterday that he will not seek re-election, once again expanding the coming congressional exodus.
• Something is definitely going on with the number of people in Congress leaving their positions. It’s way more than in a typical year. 
• In other news…
• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said yesterday that Republicans are blurring faces in security footage from inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to protect rioters from prosecution.
• Isn’t that called “obstruction of justice”?
• “We have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ,” Johnson said at a news conference.
• But the Department of Justice has long had access to the same unedited footage, and has used it in some of the roughly 1,200 criminal cases against people linked to the file coup attempt. So that’s complete bullshit.
• You’re being lied to.
• New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that the special election to replace George Santos will be held on February 13. I believe that seat can be flipped to blue. Based on how things are going, we may end up with a Democratic majority in the House before 2025. Wouldn’t that be nice?
• A Pennsylvania chapter of the conservative activist group Moms for Liberty split from the organization over the national leadership’s response to a rape allegation against a co-founder’s husband.
• Clarissa Paige, who was Moms for Liberty’s chapter chair in Northumberland County, PA, said she was disturbed that the national leaders quickly jumped to defend Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, after the allegations — and the criminal investigation into Ziegler’s conduct — became public last week. 
• Or maybe it was because she realized her anti-LGBT leader was, in fact, doing the lesbian stuff.
• If you think that drag queens and gay people living their best lives are a problem in society, maybe look at some more tangible examples of that… like William “Bill” Oswald, 61, former pastor at Ravenwood Baptist Church.
• Oswald has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the repeated rape of two young girls, one of which was under the age of 11.
• Sigh.
• In other cases of misdirected anger… if you’re mad at the government for your grocery bills, maybe take a closer look at a more plausible culprit.
• Example: Kellogg's raised prices 14% from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023. The company then reported better than expected profits and execs shared plans to spend more on stock buybacks and larger dividends.
• News flash: corporations have been using inflation as cover to squeeze more money out of you, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank. As I said, you’re being lied to. About many things.
• And now, The Weather: “Too True” by Wishy
• In weather news, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued five people from flooded areas yesterday as an atmospheric river brought heavy rain, flooding and unseasonably warm temperatures to the Pacific Northwest.
• The conditions also closed rail links, schools and roads in some areas and shattered daily rainfall and temperature records in Washington state. In southwest Washington, a Coast Guard helicopter plucked a man from the roof of his truck in floodwaters near the hamlet of Rosburg and also rescued four people who were trapped in a house surrounded by 4 feet of water.
• Be safe, peoples.
• A couple of big RIP’s this morning.
• First one goes out to Denny Laine, the guitarist, bassist, and singer who co-founded the Moody Blues and played in Paul McCartney and Wings from 1971 till 1981. 
• Coincidentally, Laine died on the exact date of the 50th anniversary of the release of a seminal Wings album he played on, ‘Band on the Run’.
• Also, rest in peace to legendary writer-producer-developer Norman Lear, who revolutionized American comedy with such daring, immensely popular early-‘70s sitcoms as “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son.” Lear died yesterday at the grand age of 101.
• My significant other Kat was at work on the Sony lot a number of years back when Mr. Lear visited, and he was as kind and funny as you’d imagine him to be. RIP, good sir.
• From the Sports Desk… Aaron Rodgers is mad at his football team.
• Leaks to the media in regard to their tumultuous quarterback situation between starter Zach Wilson and the team’s other two backups — Trevor Siemian and Brett Rypien — are upsetting Rodgers, who questioned why a person affiliated with the Jets would want to "assassinate someone's character like that report does for Zach."
• Shrug.
• Today in history… Kyiv falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan (1240). The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar (1534). The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia (1790). Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1865). The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed (1884). London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs (1897). Finland declares independence from the Russian Empire (1917). The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives (1921). U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene (1933). At a free concert performed by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway, eighteen-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels security guards (1969). The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States (1973). In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is victorious in presidential elections (1998). In ‘A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.’, the Recording Industry Association of America sues the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Napster, alleging copyright infringement (1999). 
• December 6 is the birthday of English king Henry VI (1421), chemist/engineer Charles Martin Hall (1863), businessman Fred Duesenberg (1876), actress Agnes Moorhead (1900), gangster Baby Face Nelson (1908), pianist/composer Dave Brubeck (1920), NFL player Otto Graham (1921), actress JoBeth Williams (1948), actor Tom Hulce (1953), comedian Steven Wright (1955), guitarist/songwriter Peter Buck (1956), guitarist/songwriter Randy Rhoads (1956), drummer David Lovering (1961), director/producer Judd Apetow (1967), NFL player Johnny Manziel (1992), and NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo (1994).

I played a show in Second Life last night, and will find some time later to write about that. Meanwhile, I have a busy-ass day ahead, but that’s okay. I like getting shit done. I really do. Enjoy your day.